The Muslim aid charity Al-Fatiha Global, has lodged an appeal with the charity tribunal against the Charity Commission’s decision to open a statutory inquiry into it.
Michael Lloyd, one of the two trustees of Al-Fatiha Global, registered his appeal in the First-tier Tribunal (Charity) last week. The commission has until 10 June to respond.
Al-Fatiha’s objects are the provision of clinics in northern Pakistan and the provision of humanitarian aid globally. It also works in Burma and Palestine, and is one of several charities working in Syria that are of interest to the commission.
The regulator opened its inquiry on 21 March because of serious concerns about its financial management and governance. The commission said it had been monitoring the financial management and governance of the charity since 2013.
The charity – and the commission’s involvement – came under further scrutiny in March this year after The Sun newspaper published a photograph that it said showed a volunteer for the charity posing with two masked gunmen in Syria. Another volunteer at the charity said at the time that the story was a "scandalous farce".
A spokeswoman for the commission said: "We can confirm that a trustee of Al-Fatiha Global has lodged an appeal with the charity tribunal against the commission’s decision to open a statutory inquiry into the charity."
